Canada's Milos Raonic off to winning start at U.S. Open

Canada's Milos Raonic advanced to the second round of the U.S. Open with a 7-6 (4), 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory over Argentine qualifier Carlos Berlocq on Monday.

The hard-serving star from Thornhill, Ont., fired 26 aces past Berlocq and won 91 per cent of his first service points.

It wasn't a clean win for Raonic, who committed 45 unforced errors compared to Berlocq's 11.

Raonic, the 25th seed in New York, will next face France's Gilles Simon. Raonic owns a 4-1 advantage in the head-to-head series with Simon, including both meetings on hardcourts.

Raonic was originally scheduled to face Jared Donaldson in the first round before the American withdrew due to a knee injury.

In later matches Monday, Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont. and Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime met in a clash of promising Canadian teenagers, and Vancouver's Vasek Pospisil took on Lukas Lacko of Slovakia.